Saginaw Valley State University hopes some extra work in August will leave it happy in November.

The Cardinals beefed up their schedule by adding an 11th game to the beginning of its regular-season slate this year, and will travel to California (Pa.) for a season-opening 7 p.m. kickoff Thursday. It marks the first time in five years that SVSU has played a regular-season non-conference game.

Second-year head coach Jim Collins said the extra game was added this season after SVSU and its 7-3 record was left out of the playoff picture last year, and he came to realize the importance of adding an 11th game.

"We felt it was important to play an 11th game, a non-conference game," Collins said. "It seemed like most of the teams across the playoff scene were playing a nationally respected schedule in terms of an 11th game or non-conference game, so we felt the need to play a good football team."

"I think what hurt us last year is we were 7-3 and there were a lot of 8-3 teams. There were some 8-3 teams that we beat. So I think playing that 11th game is important."

Of the 24 teams that qualified for last year's Division II playoffs, 15 played an 11-game regular season schedule, while nine played a 10-game set. Saginaw Valley State was one of only three teams in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference not to play a non-conference game.

Collins could see the writing on the wall. But that didn't mean he was going to schedule a cupcake for his season-opener and ease his way into the GLIAC schedule. California has made back-to-back appearances in the Division II semifinals, and has won 25 of its last 28 games.

The Vulcans will be without last year's star quarterback, 3,000-yard passer Kevin McCabe, or 1,400-yard rusher Daine Williams. Still, they are picked to win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's West Division, and came in as high as No. 5 in the country in one preseason poll. Collins is expecting a big-time matchup.

"It's a USC-Ohio State matchup, that type of a game," Collins said. "And I think if you want to be the best you have to beat the best."

SVSU will feature plenty of new faces, too. The team announced last week that junior transfer Chuck Dowdell will start the season at quarterback, taking over for last year's starter, Dan Stiefel, who left the program. Swan Valley product Brandon Hayes will step into the backfield to replace the graduated Brandon Emeott, a 1,000-yard rusher.

Those new players will face a trial by fire in the opening weeks of the season. The Cardinals play each of their first three games on the road against top-tier opponents. After the opener, Sept. 5 brings a trip to Wayne State to face a resurgent team that finished 8-3 last season. From there, it's on to Allendale for a matchup against GLIAC powerhouse Grand Valley State.

"It's a very big test of what we're made of right off the bat," senior linebacker and Midland native John Jacobs said. "And I think it's going to be very important. I think it's going to set the tone for the year."